Writing & Publishing Journey

Begin with a Plan: Narrative Nonfiction Picture Books

This post was originally published on February 20, 2023, on NFFest.com as part of their 2023 Nonfiction Fest month. After reading this post, pop over to NFFest and read the other informative posts by fabulous nonfiction authors.  ************************************************************************************ I know the struggle well. You research like Ken Burns—widely and deeply— and then face the itty… Read more »

The Debut Author Hero’s Journey

originally posted, February 2016. In The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler offers the twelve common stages of plot that comprise the Hero’s Journey. I’m not the first to contend that every person, at every moment, is living his or her own hero’s journey. But, since we here on EMU’s Debuts are all about celebrating the up-and-coming… Read more »

Banishing the guilt

Originally published on EMU’s Debuts(www.emusdebuts.com) Yes, guilt. Many of us were conditioned for guilt at a very young age, but the grown-up writer version is what concerns me. Maybe it’s because I’m basically a people-pleaser. Perhaps you’re like me or know somebody like me. If anybody has a problem, I want to fix it for… Read more »

Lessons from the Trenches: What I Learned from Reading 90 Submissions

Within a relatively short period of time, I was charged with reading the synopsis and first ten pages of almost 90 adult novel manuscripts. That’s a whole lot of different plots, characters, perspectives, and narrative styles. It was a daunting task, but I emerged with a better understanding of what works, and what doesn’t work… Read more »

MFA-Bound. Because I am Good at Doing Things Backwards

Hello, dear blog readers. Remember me? Once upon a time, I blogged very regularly. Then I got Very busy with writing projects in 2014. My year wrapped up something like this: I celebrated the January 2014 sale of En Garde! The Dueling Words of Abraham Lincoln (Peachtree, 2016.); I wrapped up two Capstone books for… Read more »

Rejecting Rejections

I am honored to have a blog post featured on The Writing Barn’s blog titled Rejecting Rejection.  Check it out.

Patience: Measuring Publishing Time by Shoe Size

I have a new post up on the Emu’s Debus blog about dealing with impatience and how my forthcoming book has grown alongside my youngest son.  Check it out, y’all. https://emusdebuts.wordpress.com/

Research- The Scavenger Hunt of Writers

Do you approach research as a chore or as a scavenger hunt? I easily get caught up in the awe of research. If someone had told my teenage self that I’d grow up to be a research addict, I would have spewed Orange Crush out my nose. Fast forward a decade or two to my… Read more »

Be Brave

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? –Vincent Van Gogh Writing is a scary endeavor, don’t you think? There’s that frightful blank page staring at us, taunting us, daring us; then the first sentence; the first paragraph; the first manuscript page; the ending; and all those paramount decisions we make… Read more »

An Author by Any Other Name: Or Who The Heck Am I?

**NOTE: THIS POST WAS WRITTEN IN 2014. I HAVE SINCE DIVORCED AND PUBLISHED FIVE MORE BOOKS. THANKFULLY, I CHOSE TO PUBLISH UNDER MY MAIDEN NAME. I’m having a whopper of an identity crisis. Well, not That kind of crisis. I mean, I’m not aiming for a red convertible, a party cruise, or a cute cabana… Read more »